1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to inflation of articles using a fluid such as air, and, in particular, to means for turning on and off air dispensed from an air gun used for inflation of articles.
2. Information Disclosure Statement
It is often desired to inflate articles such as dunnage bags, air mattresses, etc. Often, such inflation, such as inflation of dunnage bags when packing a cargo transport vehicle, needs to be done repetitively and quickly. Prior art solutions are known that use trigger-actuated air guns which have a nozzle that is inserted into a bore of a valve or a port of the article, and the trigger of the air gun is then squeezed to cause air to flow from a pressurized source, through the gun, and into the article while the air gun is held inserted into the valve or port on the article. The repetitive motion of inserting the air gun's nozzle into the valve or port on the article, squeezing the trigger to cause inflation and holding the trigger squeezed until full inflation is achieved, then releasing the trigger and removing the nozzle of the air gun from the article, becomes tiring to laborers operating the air gun to inflate articles.
It is therefore desirable to have an improved air gun that actuates automatically to release air when the air gun is inserted into the valve or port of an article being inflated and which also stops releasing air when the air gun is removed from the valve or port of the article.
A preliminary patentability search in Class 141, Subclasses 361, 226, 193, 321, 347, 348, 67, 68, 10, 349, digest 2; Class 137, Subclasses 231, 223, 224; and Class 251, Subclass 149.8, produced the following patents and published applications, some of which may be relevant to the present invention: Warnick, U.S. Appl. Publication 2008/0185051 A1 (published Aug. 7, 2008); Newton, U.S. Pat. No. 6,884,255 (issued Apr. 26, 2005); Sperry et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,729,110 (issued May 4, 2004); Voller, U.S. Pat. No. 5,806,572 (issued Sep. 15, 1998); Lange, U.S. Pat. No. 5,566,728 (issued Oct. 22, 1996); Huza et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,454,407 (issued Oct. 3, 1995); Ramsey, U.S. Pat. No. 5,437,301 (issued Aug. 1, 1995); Chaffee, U.S. Pat. No. 5,367,726 (issued Nov. 29, 1994); Araki, U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,516 (issued Mar. 29, 1988); Stuckel, U.S. Pat. No. 4,714,098 (issued Dec. 22, 1987); Angarola et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,146,070 (issued Mar. 27, 1979); Mizzy et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,859,996 (issued Jan. 14, 1975); and Ryan U.S. Pat. No. 2,818,890 (issued Jan. 7, 1958).
Additionally, Rose, U.S. Pat. No. 7,066,442 (issued Jun. 27, 2006) discloses use of a low-pressure air gun to inflate a dunnage bag.
None of these references, either singly or in combination, discloses or suggests the present invention.